


The Sorcerer's Apprentice

by Goddess_of_Lies



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Asgard, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Loki Odinson - Freeform, Loki is a prince, Loki smut, Loki/Reader Smut, Loki/maid, Maid Reader, Prince Loki of asgard, Reader's gonna be a maid, Slow Burn, Thor - Freeform, Thor Odinson - Freeform, a bit of an ass but when is he not, basically one of them set in old asgard fics, loki and reader - Freeform, set before Thor, set before the events of thor, sorta slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-20 07:19:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14890067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goddess_of_Lies/pseuds/Goddess_of_Lies
Summary: She had more than just his sympathies. She had his attention. His interest.A girl with tear stained cheeks, glowing hands, humming with magic she knew not how to harness...his interest was purely professional, or so Prince Loki avowed.Or rather, Prince Loki takes an apprentice he finds himself getting unusually attached to.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alrighty, let's do this! This fic is set far before the events of the first Thor movie. It's my first fic on AO3, so comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated!

It was his refuge- his, and his alone.

He fancied he was the only one to ever come to these woods-ever since they were children, he and every other Asgardian had been warned of the dangerous dark magic that was rumored to enchant the woods. 

   It was just an old wives’ tale, he now understood. His magic was mature enough to detect other kinds of magic and their presence, and he had long since realized that the woods weren’t home to dark magic. They were simply dark, dark as in they didn’t allow much light to penetrate their thick canopy of trees.

  But almost nobody else had the ability to detect magic as such, and the story kept people away.

   And so the woods were Loki’s refuge. The one place where he could have some real alone time.

  The day had been quite unpleasant- he had had to put up with constant ribbing from his oaf brother and his stupid friends, the Queen was busy planning an upcoming ball and had no time for him, and the Allfather….well, he never had any time for his younger son.

 So he was here, in the heart of the woods, with nobody to bother him. His only company was his pet raven Aren, perched on his shoulder as he leaned against a wide tree trunk, playing with illusions in his hands.

  Then Loki sat up straight-his keen ears had picked up a noise that surprised him.

  “Aren,” he said cautiously, “do you hear someone…crying?”

  Aren turned his head to one side as if listening.

Picking himself up, Loki followed the sound a little deeper inside the woods. As he drew nearer, he began to sense something. Magic.

  He found himself drawing near to a clearing, where a maiden was sitting cross legged in the middle with her back turned to him. She appeared to be sobbing and ripping out tufts of grass angrily. 

   Suddenly, as if she sensed his presence, she turned around. Her face was streaked with tears and her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, but her countenance was angry.

   “Who are you?” she demanded, getting to her feet while her hands glowed with (f/c) magic. 

  Loki leaned against a tree trunk, raising an eyebrow. 

 “You don’t know who I am?” he asked, a little amused.

  She eyed his royal garb, then scoffed.

“You’re some big-headed nobleman, I suppose,” she said sourly. “I care not for you lords, leave me be.”

  “I would, but it doesn’t please me to do so,” Loki replied carelessly- but his interest had been piqued by the strong magic he could feel within her. And somehow, also by her rudeness.

   “I wish to know who you are, impertinent girl,” he continued. 

She opened her mouth to reply, but was distracted by Aren flapping down to sit on Loki’s shoulder- he had flown up to a tree when she had turned around.

  “Is that bird yours?” she asked, the anger gone from her face in an instant, replaced by curiosity.

  “Mm,” said Loki. “You have not yet answered my question.”

“I answer to no one,” she said, scowling. “Not even the likes of you.”

“Wouldn’t you answer even to the King and Queen?” he asked innocently.

  “Not unless I felt like it,” she muttered.

Foolish girl. She could get into big trouble for her coarse words-but as long as he felt vaguely entertained, she was safe, and vaguely entertained he felt.

   “I suppose you wouldn’t answer to either of the princes then, either,” mused Loki.

  “No,” she shot, “but I might answer to the younger one.” This last part was mumbled, and obviously she had not meant for him to catch it, but he did.

  “What was that now?” he asked, stepping forward with a small grin. “You might answer to the younger prince? Pray, do tell why you deemed him fit for such a privilege as your cooperation.”

  She flushed a bright red, but answered with her chin up. “I have heard he is a powerful sorcerer. I respect sorcerers.”

   “You are one yourself, I see,” Loki said with a nod to her hands, who were still glowing faintly.

  Something about the comment seemed to remind her of her initial misery; she clenched her jaw, but tears welled up in her eyes. She blinked them back furiously.

  “Where do you study magic?” Loki asked, paying no attention to the fact that she was liable to start sobbing any moment.

  “I don’t study magic,” she said. “My family does not approve. I taught myself some from books.”

  Loki felt a pang. He could commiserate, of course, he had been through that- the Allfather was most displeased when he had announced he was going to choose magic as his area or expertise.

  “You have no master to train you,” said Loki, genuinely feeling sorry for her. 

  “No, I don’t,” she said, her tone snappish all of a sudden. “Now, if you’ll give me leave, I must go. It is remarkably foolish of me to stand around talking to some stranger.”

  “And if I don’t give you leave?” he asked.

   “I shall leave anyway,” she said, and turned. Or, tried to. Her feet were fixed to the ground, bound there by magic that glowed green around her ankles, and at Loki’s fingertips.

  A blast of (f/c) energy was thrown at Loki- it was a clumsy, amateur move. he deflected it with relative ease, but the quantity of energy she had thrown at him impressed him.

  “Calm down,” he said. “You said you would answer to the younger prince? Well, I hold you to your word. You must answer to me- I am Prince Loki.”

  Her eyes widened in momentary shock, followed by a look of discomfiture.  

 “Oh,” she said.

  “Now, girl, what is your name?” he asked.

“(y/n),” she replied, sounding resigned.

  “(y/n),” he said, “your magic is powerful. Have you never received any formal training?”

  She shook her head. “My aunt and uncle, whom I live with, detest magic. I have been forbidden to practice any sort of sorcery. They found my few books on the subject today- the books were promptly burnt.”

 Perhaps that’s why she was crying. If Loki had only a few books on magic and they were burnt, he would tear the palace down.

  “My sympathies.”

She had more than just his sympathies. She had his attention. His interest. Her aunt and uncle would soon have his ire.

 The magic binding her feet released her.

  “Do you wish to study magic?” he asked.

  “Very much,” she replied.

 “Good. Follow me.”

* * *

The Norns were certainly having fun with you today. 

 Your day had been…odd. Astonishingly odd. First, tragedy had struck. At least, it felt like a tragedy to you. Your aunt and uncle had found out you had been secretly studying magic on your own, and they had burnt the few books you had., because they abhorred magic. You had run off, finding yourself in a clearing of the woods behind your house, and cried and cried.

  And now you were following the younger prince of Asgard, Loki, out of the woods with a promise to be able to learn magic.

   His pet raven flew ahead, occasionally doubling back to caw at you.

  “Your Highness?” you asked, hoping to sound a little meek.  After all, you had just said a whole lot of extremely rude things to him. 

   He turned suddenly- very suddenly. You didn’t have time to halt- you collided into his chest.

   “Be attentive, girl,” he snarled.

“Sorry,” you muttered, really not sorry; he shouldn’t have had turned so suddenly. 

  Unconsciously you took a deep breath. He smelt like cinnamon and crushed cacao.

   “You wish to study magic,” said the prince. “As it happens, I have nobody to practice my magic alongside. There are none in the Palace with sufficient magic to be tolerable to  me, excepting the King and Queen, and they are far too busy”

   Your eyes widened when you understood what he was getting at.

“You, girl, seem to have a stupendous amount of magic flowing within you. You have been proscribed to learn magic, with which I can, to some extent, sympathise.”

“To get to the point,”he continued, waving his hands about expressively, “I wish to help you. If you allow me to make use of your magical power and endurance, I can use you to practice magic with, as well as passing on a few things I have discovered. In short, I wish to make you my apprentice.”

 You blinked, momentarily confused.

  “Wha-why?” you asked.

   He scowled, looking angry.

“I mean, why would you help me? My lord?” you corrected yourself hastily.

  He counted the points on his fingers.

 “You’ve got magic,  I pity you, your foolish impertinence is entertaining, and besides, I have long been in search of one with whom I could practice magic. Are these reasons acceptable?” he asked.

  “I- aye, my lord,” you said, your mind flooding with thoughts- some euphoric, some dazed and disbelieving and afraid.

  “You are most kind, my lord Prince,” you said, and you meant it.

* * *

Loki made the announcement at dinnertime. 

“I have taken an apprentice,” he said.

   Odin and Thor stopped conversing and stared at him blankly. 

  “An-an apprentice?” Queen Frigga asked, confusion clouding her regal features. 

  “An apprentice,” repeated Loki. “A girl. I’m going to train her.”

Thor snorted. 

   “Since when do you teach?” he asked skeptically.

“Since I’ve met someone with enough magic to learn from me,” said Loki. “Besides, she had so-far been bereft from the benefit of learning magic. I pity her.”

  Thor laughed. “Well, who knew you were capable of something like pity, little brother?”

“Thor! Loki can be very compassionate if given the chance. He just does not readily show it.” This was from Queen Frigga.

   Loki laughed (scoffed!). “It’s nothing to fuss about, really. I will be training someone in the magical arts. That’s it.”

  His brother shrugged. “Is she pretty?” he asked suddenly, with a familiar glint in his eyes.

   Loki thought of her grubby face, her bloodshot, puffy eyes.

 “Not really,” he replied.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hellooo! thank you to everyone who left kudos and commented, here's another part <3

It wasn’t as if your aunt and uncle were unpleasant people.

They were just….

  To be honest about it, you felt the great debt you owed them. They did, after all, give you a home. They raised you, albeit they did get more than your daily bread’s worth of labour out of you. But there was never anything alienating in their behaviour- you were certain that if they had their own child, they would treat it just as they treated you. Roughly.

   Your uncle was an artisan. He created marvellous works of art, sculpted, painted or modelled. It was your job to fetch and prepare his paints, clay, or stone for him, as well as to keep his workshop clean and his art polished.  It didn’t sound like much- but it was.

  That night, you slept fitfully, tired after your lesson with the prince. Your aunt had asked you some sharp questions about your whereabouts that evening, but you had evaded them all.She hadn’t pressed much- she you were an incurably common person, lounging about  in filthy streets with what she called “your filthy street friends.” You had no idea how she got that notion. 

  Your day began with heading out to the riverside to dig. It was one of your uncle’s family trade secrets- the riverbanks were made up of the finest clay for modelling- refined and smooth. In addition to that, you found many worthless but pretty crystals when you dug, all coruscating in the sunlight. 

  Digging was hard work, and you had to do it manually. It was early, but the sun shone down as if determined to fry you.

* * *

Loki awoke to Thor hammering on the door.

   “Lo! It’s time for breakfast!”

“Go away!” Loki hollered, rolling over and cuddling his plush cushions. He would rather die than anybody finding out, but he always ended up cuddling something as he slept. When it was cushions, it was okay; but when circumstances dictated that he sleep next to Thor, such as when they were sent out for war and had to sleep on the bare ground, it was downright horrifying. 

 Thor broke the door down (this was a regular occurrence, Loki had to fix it everyday, it only took a little bit of magic).  

  “Lo, Mother’s calling you!” he said brightly, tugging all the covers right off the huge, luxurious bed.

  “THOR GIVE ME BACK MY SHEETS!” Loki yelled, but Thor’s arms were around him, he was being hauled up, he was being thrown over Thor’s shoulder, he was being manhandled and taken to breakfast when all he wanted to do was sleep.

* * *

“What took you such a long time?” your uncle snapped as you brought him a sack of the finest clay. 

  “Oh, well, there was the digging,” you mumbled, wiping a smear of blood red earth off of your cheek.

 “Alright, give me the clay; also, I need you to polish all my scalpels- and if you try and use any of that  _seidir_ or whatever it is, I’ll lock you in the cellar for a few days.”

  You sighed- you were hot and sweaty and tired from lugging the sack of mud from the riverside. 

  Making your way to the corner of the workshop where your uncle’s scalpels lay strewn on a a sheet of cloth, you found yourself longing for the hour when you would be learning magic from the prince. 

  The prince! 

You loved the way you felt around him. Magic- it was as if he was magic personified. Fluid, adaptable,  _beautiful._ It was all the magical power which flowed within him, you knew, and you found yourself loving the feeling of being near a real sorcerer.

* * *

  Frigga was trying to get Loki to eat more; he was adamant, though. He was full. He was sitting with his knees drawn up on his chair, sulking.

  “Loki, I can’t sit here with your fussing all day, do eat up, dear,” Frigga sighed. 

  Loki maundered something about ‘why not’ and ‘want sleep.’

“Loki, I have a ball to plan,” she told him. “Get on with your breakfast, I can’t leave you or you won’t eat anything at all, knowing your infantile pickiness.”

  Thor had finished shoving jugs of cream and strips of bacon down his throat; as if on cue, Fandral poked his head through the door of the royal breakfast room. 

  “Good morning, Your Highnesses,” he said respectfully to the king and queen.

They acknowledged him with smiles and nods. 

“Fandral, m’man,” said Thor, grinning. “Where to, today? I was thinking of a hunt.”

  “Hunt sounds fine, but are you sure? You know how hard it is to focus on the game when Loki’s being a sourpuss, and right now he looks like curdled milk,” Fandral teased, earning laughs from Odin and Thor, even an ill-suppressed smile from Frigga.

 This only made Loki look sullener. Suddenly, however, he remembered something that almost-  _almost-_ made him smile.

   The girl. 

  The girl! 

The evening would come and they would meet- there would be magic sparking in the air. He could almost feel it now.

  “Lo, Lo,” said Thor mockingly. “No magic tricks on the table, please, they stopped being amusing a few hundred years ago.”

 His fingers had been glowing green. Loki clenched his teeth- he hated it when Thor called his magic  _tricks._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, thanks for the kudos and comments! I'm rather nervous about this fic, because I usually write one shots, but your support keeps me going!

He had told her to meet him in the woods, in the same clearing. He was pleased to find her there, lying on her back looking up at the evening sky.

   “Hello, wench,” he said. 

“I have a name, you know!” she said, flaring up.

   “Temper, temper,” said Loki with condescension. She was so easy to infuriate.

    She sat up. 

“Apologies, my lord,” she mumbled. 

    “Mm, better,” said Loki, studying her face. With her eyes and face showing no signs of her having wept, he had to admit she had a vague kind of prettiness about her.

   The first thing to do was to see what command she had over the magic that Loki felt flowing so strongly within her. He found out soon that she had little to no control over the amounts of magic she released, nor could she channel it effectively to do proper spells. She could, however, release magic in bursts of destructive energy.

   “The first thing you must learn,” he told her, “is basic illusions. Illusions require small amounts of magic, and it will be easier for to practice control through them.

   “Yes, Your Highness,” she said. 

  By the end of the hour, she was able to create basic illusions that appeared to be interacting with the surroundings-the ones that concealed the surroundings were a bit different, he’d teach her that next time. It wasn’t easy, teaching her. He would’ve expected someone with her magic potential to learn illusions in a quarter of an hour.

   “Flick your wrist,” he was just telling her, trying to teach her some basic hand gestures. 

    “Like this?” she asked, turning it.

Aren was getting annoyed. He flew down from a tree branch to the top of her head and cawed loudly.

   “Hey, you try doing this instead of cawing, stupid bird!” she snapped. 

“Flick, wench. Flick your wrist, give it a jerk!” Loki told her. “No, don’t turn it!”

   She was terrible at hand gestures, he noted. It was extremely obvious that she had never received any magical training in her life- all the more pitiful, she was brimming with potential.

   He sighed as she struggled with a simple flick and flourish of the hands.

  He seized her wrist and pulled her in towards himself. She bumped into him with a surprised cry.

   “What are you doing?” she asked. 

“This is how you do it,” he said, holding her against himself and using his own hands to flick her wrist. 

....  
When he finally reached the palace, it was late. Dinner had started, he was informed, so he cleaned up and dressed in a rush.

  “Sorry I’m late, I got caught up in practice,” he explained as he barged into the dining hall.

  He blinked in confusion for a few moments- there were two other people seated at the table along with his father, mother and Thor. They had company.

“Be seated, son,” growled Odin. “I must apologize on behalf of the young Prince,” he said as Loki quietly took his seat, “you must excuse him for being late, he is often absent-minded when he is studying.”

 Loki bit his lower lip in embarrassment. His position was to his mother’s left- one of the guests, which he recognized as a Lord Bjorka from the court, was on his own left side; Father was to the Lord’s left, Thor was to Father’s left and so on.

 “Ahem, Prince Loki,” said Queen Frigga, “you have not yet been introduced to Lady Astra, correct?”

 For the first time, Loki properly took notice of the other guest, into whose ear Thor had been whispering.

 She sat right across him- her large, pretty eyes met his and she smiled.

Loki found himself smiling back.

  “Lady Astra has just returned to Asgard after years of studying at Vanaheim,” Odin supplied. 

 This piqued Loki’s interest.

“Vanaheim? That’s an interesting coincidence,” he said to Lady Astra as Lord Bjorka, who seemed obviously her father, engaged in conversation with the King. “I’ve spent an extensive period studying there myself; what is your subject, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Not at all, Your Highness,” she replied, tilting her head to a side. “I have studied magical warfare.”

 This part caught Lord Bjorka’s ears.

“Ah, yes, Prince Loki, Astra is quite a warrior!”

“So I’ve heard,” said Odin. “It is said that you’re gifted with a treasure of magic in your veins, m’lady.”

  “Well,” chuckled Lady Astra. She neither denied nor accepted the praise.

  “I couldn’t have guessed you studied warfare,” Loki mused after the two men had returned to conversation, this time involving Thor and his mother as well.

“Do I not look like a warrior?” she laughed. “I should like to aver that I am one. In fact, I was wondering how one is to apply to your mage army, sire, it is said to be one of the best in the entire Yggdrasil.”

 Loki’s eyebrows shot up his forehead. He imagined a woman like her in his army- his soldiers would fall over themselves to try and court her. The thought made him giggle slightly.

 “Does the prospect please His Majesty?” she asked.

“I’m sorry?”

“You sound pleased at the prospect of me joining your army.”

“Oh, well, I am,” he replied politely.

 He was about to say something else when Thor caught his eye, signing a discreet gesture in the air. 

  Their gesture for ‘get me out of here, emergency’.

“Oh!” Loki cried out, clutching his head.

  The table fell silent. All eyes were on him.

“Loki, dear?” Queen Frigga asked.

  “Ooh, oh, Norns, Mother- I just felt the most dreadful pain in my temple- it’s been a dull throb all day, but now-”

“Is it the same place where I struck you with the hilt of my sword this morning?” Thor asked in (fake) alarm.

 “That is the place, ay,” Loki played along with an agonized expression.

“You must see Lady Eir, I suppose,” Odin said, clearly suspecting a rat.

 “-oh! Perhaps it can wait until after dinner, I do not wish to leave our guests,” Loki said, blinking rapidly.

“Of course not, Your Highness!” said Lord Bjorka “You may be seriously hurt! You must go see a healer this instant.”

 “Mayhap I can assist you on your way to the infirmary,” said Lady Astrid, with an overly innocent expression on her face.

 “No!” Thor jumped up. “Do not trouble yourself, m’lady, I shall aid my brother. Do excuse us!”

  And then, he hoisted Loki off of his chair and carried him out of the hall like a child.

 As soon as they were a sufficient distance from he dining hall, Thor set him down.

  “Thank you, Lo,” he grinned.

  Loki suppressed a smile at the old nickname and said:

“Yeah, yeah…what is the big emergency anyway?” Loki asked.

 “I-uh-”

  “Thor?” Loki asked- his brother was grinning all over his face like an absolute idiot.

  “I have to see a woman,” he said.

“Ah-ooooh! I see! But were you not flirting with Lady Astra at the dinner table, right before I arrived? I do not easily miss such things brother, now what was that?”

 Thor shrugged. 

“She likes you better,” he said. “Anyway, I must go.”

“Fare fair,” Loki told him, before turning on his heel.

  He walked slowly down towards his chambers, his mind full of thoughts. Lady Astra Bjorkdottir, Thor, his mage army…he shook his head- a thought seemed to be missing.

  It came to him when he went to bed and Aren flew up to sit on his face- perhaps one day, he could train his apprentice and have her join his mage army; she would be a very valuable addition to it.

  He shoved the bird off of his cheek and fell asleep, dreaming of strange things.

 

 


End file.
